A Stupid Idea
by MJTR
Summary: Two damaged people come up with a very stupid idea
1. Chapter 1

[[Author's Note: I'm usually a stickler for continuity and pointing out approximately the time a story I'm writing changes from established continuity. But once in a while I want to tell a story so bad that it defies my interest in figuring this stuff out. If you're a stickler like I usually am, I apologize and hope you find something to like anyway. We're a while after Xavin's departure and the Malibu house wasn't destroyed as it was in the comics.

If you are a _Runaways_ fan like I am, you can check out my work on YouTube under the name _HalfwayBeret_ , I'm directing an adaption on volume one right now.

For anyone who may object to this as a story idea, I would like you to know I already have all the details planned out and will not be changing them. I encourage you to see this through to the end. Of course, if it's my writing and stuff like that that turns you off, well by all means, leave when you feel like it.]]

…

I try not to think of myself as a stupid person. If I stay in that frame of mind too long, it feels really hard to come back out. I have and still do stupid things. I should have known Nico didn't feel the same way. I should have known Alex was planning something. And maybe I should have seen from a million miles away the kinds of people my parents really were. I do stupid things when I'm honest, I do stupid things when I'm faking. And the thing I was standing there and lingering over was somehow both.

It had been six months since the invasion. Six months since Xavin left for me. Every one of my emotions jerks back and forth since then. How did I really feel about her? How much was honesty and how much was confirming for a greater good? And did I miss those little moments of normality? I thought months ago I _hated_ it when we went out in public and hated it when I had to play pretend… I wish I could say for sure it was a _we_ and not an _I_.

I was always sure I hated it. And yet here I was, wrestling with myself to knock on his door and just have another shot at playing pretend again. I wasn't going to lie. Not to him. I'd hate myself forever if I led him on.

 _Knock knock knock_.

I waited, holding my breath for some response. When a minute or two passed, I nearly rushed back to my bedroom to try and forget I ever considered something like this. File it away with the other pointless, stupid thoughts I've had before. But given just a little more time, the door creaked open and Chase, naked besides his boxers, gave me a look with his tired, baggy eyes.

"Kar…? The hell are you doing up?" He asked with a yawn. "It's… The clock is facing the other way, so I dunno. But it's late."

"Can I come in for a sec?" I asked.

Chase blinked twice and took a look at the reptilian beast sleeping near his bed before he motioned I cross through. "Yeah. Okay. What's up?"

I crossed straight to his bed and took a seat, looking up at him as he turned on the lamp at his bedside table. "… I wanted to ask for a favor, Chase."

"You mean other than requesting I answer the door?" He picked up his alarm clock and referring to it. "3:22 AM. There we have it."

"Chase… I need help with something… I've been… I've been really lonely lately."

"Uhh… Okay…?" He said, raising an eyebrow.

"And more than that the universe just likes to keep treating me like it's dog toy," I continued, holding my fingers to my forehead. "My parents were killers, they stuck me an arranged marriage, I honestly can't figure out how much I even _liked_ her and now she's gone… I was comparing my symptoms with signs of bipolarity _before_ any of this crap started, and now I just don't know what to make of anything."

"Yeah, well you're not alone," Chase said, sitting on bed thereafter and sighing. "Universe likes to dick around with me too."

"The thing is Chase, I've been thinking about it. About feeling lonely and all that stuff. And about how I used to… Still kind of… Fell about Nico. Knowing deep down she'd never think about me the way I did her, but wishing she'd just pretend."

"I'm trying my hardest to follow you right now Karolina, but-"

"But I'm not going to ask her to compromise… So I wondered if maybe just _I_ should compromise for a little while."

Chase was definitely offput by this. To my surprise, he seemed to understand exactly what I was talking about. "Karolina, listen, I like you as a friend and all-"

"I'm not asking you to change me," I said quickly. "You don't even have to change you. But I need a break already! I need to escape, even if I have to come back later. The same way anyone else our age needs to get away from report cards and picking a college to go to or whatever. I can't bring my parents back to life as decent people, I can't will Xavin back and no matter how long I keep the bracelet on, I can't quit being an alien."

"So why do you think you can quit being gay?"

"Maybe I can't. But I can pretend for a little while. Maybe." I said.

"Kar… I meant it when I said I liked you-"

"You remember how hard you used to try and impress me every year since you quit trying to make me and Nico eat worms? Since you first grew up? Before all this happened, before we were looking death in the face with the Gibbo-whatever, you kept trying to get me to notice you."

"Yeah. And that was also before Gert." Chase said with an exacerbated sigh. "I've already spent too long trying to make things go back to the way they were. I'm not going to play house with you on this one Kar… No matter how much fun that sounds. Besides, I know that's not you."

"Well they say everyone's a little gay, you know," I pointed out. "Couldn't I be a little-" He cut me off with that serious look he sometimes gets. I nodded sadly and pushed up from his bed, quietly saying, "No. You're right. It's a stupid idea. Thanks for being honest, Chase." And letting out a sigh. Heading back for bed alone again.

…

I was awoken a while later by the sound of pounding on my bedroom door. With a yawn of my own I opened it, part of me wanting to be naïve enough to believe it would be anyone else. But of course it wasn't. Not at just after five in the morning.

"Chase?" He'd pulled on a worn down old t-shirt for his trip down the hall.

"I couldn't get back to sleep after you left… I hate to admit it, but I'm really feeling lonely these days too."

He opened his arms and I walked into them, feeling him wrap tight around me a moment later. Somehow it wasn't the same kind of warmth as Xavin, but it felt good anyway.

"So… You pretending you like this?"

"I don't need to pretend to like a hug, Chase."

"But you're going to pretend to like the rest?"

"Sure," I said. "Pretending is fun sometimes."


	2. Chapter 2

When I woke up again, I got about two seconds to wonder if I had dreamt up that last part. But the bed was definitely warmer than usual, and I could feel my arm gently moving up and down with his breaths.

Well, we'd slept together. In the same bed, I mean. I'm almost positive that was it. "… Chase? You awake?"

"Sure," he yawned. "Let's call it that." He said, scratching his eyes. "Huh… I was kind of wondering if I was just dreaming when I got back up."

"I was thinking the same thing."

"Did we…?"

"I think I'd remember," I told him. "Can I come a little closer?"

"Sure." I pulled closer, again laying my arm across his body and laying my hear on his shoulder. We laid there quietly for a few minutes before he asked, "Would that have been your first time?"

"No." We were quiet again for a few beats before I asked, "Why?"

"I dunno," he replied, his eyes shut. "We've been hiding out together for how long now? If I'm going to be your pretend boyfriend, I think I get to ask a weird question or two." When I didn't respond immediately, he continued, "It's not like you have to ask me. You already know the answer. Or you should anyway."

"You're not seriously expecting that, are you?" I asked. "That's not really the kind of faking-"

"No. I don't expect it. I just know I've done stupid things when I've been nearly asleep before." He sat up and ooked at the clock. "It's after nine and I'm hungry. I'm getting up."

"So… We didn't really talk about how we're going to explain this to the others." I pointed out.

"Guess we didn't…" A wily smile came across Chase's face. "We should play this up. Like this has been going on for months but we were keeping it a secret or something."

"You think that would be funny?" I asked.

"Hell yeah. Let's just go out there and screw with their heads. We're supposed to be having fun with this, right?"

"I guess… Just nothing too abrasive, alright?

"Scout's honor."

"Since when are you any kind of scout?"

"Let's just go. This place has been getting boring lately anyway. Maybe we can shake it up without anyone getting horribly maimed for once."

…

Nico, Molly and Klara were already in the kitchen, the first delivering some rant to the second about how much regret she'd be feeling about all those chocolate flavored cereals a few years down the line. Chase and I entered, as we had agreed, holding hands as he let out a yawn loud enough to attract Nico's attention. She only gave us a passing glance but, to my amusement, double took and looked back up a moment later.

"Alright baby," he said, patting me on the back. "Take a seat and I'm doing to make you some of my famous scrambled eggs."

The only laugh I could muster was a little uncomfortable. "Aw c'mon. Don't play like that. You know I'm vegan."

"Well then I'm gonna slowly break _every_ rule in your book." He said playfully. I laughed again, but was completely unsure if he was being serious or not. I managed to turn my gaze over to Nico, who, in spite of my momentary lapses, was buying this enough to mouth _What the fuck?_ Towards me. For their own part, Molly and Klara looked confused too.

"Why did Chase liken you to a child?" Klara asked.

"You call someone 'baby' when you're going out with them." Molly explained. Then, suddenly realizing the implication of her own words, said, "Wait a minute…"

"You guys have something you want to tell us?" Nico asked, slowly shifting eyes between us.

"What, are you guys serious?" Chase asked, cracking eggs into a skillet. "You guys didn't know?"

"Know what?" Nico asked, resting her glare on me.

Chase clearly was a faster thinker and responder than I was, but I wasn't going to let him upstage me. Besides, I reminded myself, I was supposed to be having fun with this too. That was the point.

"… Chase and I decided that, as two people grieving our own personal losses, we were both getting desperate for companionship."

"And sex!" He shouted over the crackle of the eggs. "Desperate for sex!"

"Yes." I said, smiling and nodding as best I could with how ridiculous this was quickly turning. "And sex."

The table was briefly silenced by our antics before everyone began to respond in their own little ways. Molly replied, "But I thought you liked other girls!". Klara quickly soured the mood with her innocent smile and declaration, "Karolina has become a real woman! How wonderful!" And Nico by repeatedly pounding her forehead into the kitchen table.

After about four hits against the wood, Nico remarked, "Chase, I'm taking your girlfriend to the bathroom. We need to powder our noses."

"I don't see any reason we can't powder them out here," I said with a smirk.

"By all means, powder away," Chase said, reaching into the fridge and tossing a few drops of green hot sauce into the eggs. Before any more could be said, Nico grabbed me by the arm and dragged me towards the nearest bathroom and almost tossing me in.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" She asked, her look somewhere between anger and complete confusion.

"What are you talking about?" I asked innocently, turning the tides towards anger.

"Are you really going to make me ask?"

"Guess I am."

"… You told me every year since we were four that you think 'boys are gross' and kept finding an excuse to say that long after I stopped agreeing with you. You told me you never wanted to hear another sports story from Chase again as long as you lived, tell me year after year how annoying you think he is and, in the midst of a small-scale alien invasion, you tried to kiss me. Who the hell are you trying to fool with this? Please tell me you're not trying to fool _him_! Need I remind you Chase is so embittered after what's happened he tried to make a deal with the Gibborim to bring Gert back?!"

I let out another laugh and followed it with a sigh, saying, "I'm not trying to fool him. I'm not even trying to fool you. I just wanted to see how you'd react."

"What, so this is some one-time morning prank?" She asked, still confused.

"Not one time. Maybe not for long, but not one time."

"Okay, seriously, what are you talking about? What is any of this?"

I folded my arms and leaned against the wall for a moment and admitting, "Nico… I'm really upset right now. I've been upset for a few years now. Before all this started even."

"Okay…"

"I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired," I said. "If I don't just have a chance to breath, I'm going to burn out… So I want a chance to just pretend like something in my life isn't really complicated and overreaching and… And weird." I said. "And this seemed like the easiest route to take."

Nico stared at me, still confused. "So… To solve that problem… You're having sex with-"

"No no no no no!" I said quickly. "We haven't had sex. We're not going to have sex. We're just playing pretend for a little while. Just as long as it makes us both happy."

"And you really think Chase, who I will remind you, is often emotionally unstable and could be a hell of a bad guy if he wanted to be, is your best choice for this?"

"Have a little faith, Nico." I replied, sliding past her and out of the bathroom. "It's just a game. He knows it. My parents were actors, being something I'm not once in a while is probably in my blood."

I stepped back into the kitchen, noticing Victor now seated across from Chase as he gobbled up his spicy plate of scrambled eggs. "Hey, sorry I forgot about your eating habits there babe," Chase said as I sat down next to him, resting a hand on my shoulder, Victor starting to go wide-eyed as he did. "I'll get us some gelato later."

"Gelato's not vegan either," I laughed, ready to attract another few responses as I kissed Chase on the cheek. Molly made a gagging face, Klara cooed in delight (to my continued annoyance) and Victor maintained his stare a few seconds before pressing his fingers to his forehead and looking away.

"No mames…" He muttered, shaking his head. "No mames… You guys are gonna make me blue screen."


	3. Chapter 3

Our first outing as a pretend couple came two days later, when Chase was dispatched to handle grocery shopping for the week and he invited me to come along. We had only slept together that first night, but remained playfully flirty around the house, eliciting reactions from confusion to chagrin as everyone but Nico seemed to question if it was real or not.

"So, when did you first know?" Chase asked, holding my hand as we walked down the street.

"Know what?" I asked.

"Gee, I dunno," he said. "When did you first know my only chance to date you was going to be a game of pretend?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "When does anyone know something like that?"

"I was seven," Chase mused. "I was at a buddy's house for a sleepover, we were on sleeping bags in the living room when a Hooter's ad came on. I couldn't explain it to my friend, but I said I thought the lead waitress was 'really pretty' or some dumb shit like that."

I laughed. "Bravo."

"Well, if you can't remember I'm going to assume your experience was similar," he teased. "Gimmie my hand, Karolina, I need to get into my pockets." I let him go and allowed him to pull out a hat and a pair of sunglasses. He went on to say, "I grew up around here, and I got a bad feeling someone might recognize from one of those stupid old police reports." He took my hand again when he had slipped them both on. "Least it's quiet around here again."

We made it a few more blocks, nearly to the store when I admitted, "I think it was Songbird."

"Huh?"

"That superheroine, Songbird? I found some of these old VHS tapes my parents had, they made them whenever superheroes were… In town… Oh my God," I held my palm to my face, "Well that says a lot when I think about it…"

"Don't worry about them," Chase was quick to advise. "Finish what you were saying."

"Well just… I'd seen good guys and bad guys running around in spandex my whole life. Not in person, but on TV and everything. I think my mom was in some really bad made for TV fake biopic of Ms. Marvel. But something just got me when they were talking to her. The guy running the camera ran from her feet up to her face and held for a sec on her legs. I remember rewinding that part a bunch of times. I didn't know why, but I really really liked it."

"Sweet little Karolina really can sink as low as the rest of us," he said with a smirk as he hit the button for the crosswalk, the store sitting just across the street.

Grocery shopping with Chase that first time was an interesting experience. He liked to get his hands all over everything, even the fresh fruit that was sitting out. Considering the kinds of germaphobes my parents acted like all throughout my childhood, I think turned out pretty good. My mom would scold me if I so much as put a hand on one of the apples sitting in the bin at our neighborhood co-op. Chase, meanwhile, was nonchalantly tossing an orange between his hands.

"It's how I test if they're good," he said. "Gotta have the right swish when I toss them."

"That's… Different," I giggled, trying to be nice while taking in the oddity."

"I know you're making fun of me. You don't have to believe it, I know it's true." He set the orange down with the others in the cart before bagging the ones he had deemed worthy. "That outta get Nico off my back about the girls eating better."

He continued on towards the back of the store, towards all the meat and cheese and other things I was never allowed to eat growing up.

"You ever broken those rules your mom and dad put on you?" He asked.

I looked down and away, hesitating for a sec before admitting, "Yeah… Once. A week or so after we ran off. I didn't tell anyone because I knew we were trying to ration the cash and everything and I knew you guys didn't want me flying at night… I was so torn up about everything, you know? I hated my parents for-" I had to bite my tongue upon a sweet looking old woman walking past us, not wanting to detail those horrors in such a public place, "Well, everything. My head was in a bunch of places about Nico… I wanted to do something big. Something defiant. Something not me."

"Sounds like right now," Chase remarked.

"Yeah… Kinda of was actually… I flew down to this Jack in the Box I used to drive by every day on my way to school. I don't even know what I was trying to prove, but I just wanted to do it. I ordered a double cheeseburger with bacon and ate the whole thing."

"And?" Chase asked, "Was it the greatest thing you'd ever tasted?"

"God no," I said, making a face. "It was awful. I threw up an hour later."

"Yeah, well you did go to a Jack in the Box. You could have gone to an In-N-Out or even just a Carl Jr's. Jack in the Box can do that to ya."

"I don't know… Maybe it was because I'd never eaten anything like that before. Or maybe it's because I'm, you know-"

"An alien?"

" _Shhh!_ " I commanded with a finger to my mouth. "Come on, we're in public!"

"Yeah, and who's really gonna make any trouble?" He asked. We both went quiet for a little bit before he said, "You should give cheese another try. Cheese is great." I just made another face at him. "Suit yourself. When my parents used to take me out to dinner for my birthday, I never really cared where we went as long as they had mozzarella sticks. That's the stuff, I'm telling you." Again a silence briefly took us before Chase asked, "Was it rainbow?" As we walked to the front of the store, towards the cash registers.

"Huh?"

"When you puked, was it rainbow colored?"

I had to double take at that one. "Um… I don't remember… Why on earth would you ask that?"

"I dunno. Curiosity." He said, shrugging. "I knew Gert, obviously. I've known Molly really well. Sometimes I think I've known more about Nico than I ever wanted to. I crushed on you for years but since when did I ever really know you?"

I almost stopped in place at this, not really sure how to reply before I admitted, "I never really took you for being the listening type."

"I wasn't," Chase said, shrugging. "But Gert was always worried about something or another. I had to listen to her tell me about all kinds of stuff. Sad stuff. Rough stuff. Stupid stuff, a lot of the time. But we got along better when I just kinda shut up and worked with her on it. It taught me to like stupid crap like that."

I don't know which I found more unbelievable. That Chase wanted to know if I vomit rainbows, or that he somehow made himself sound almost endearing for asking.


	4. Chapter 4

It took a while for us to actually do anything I'd call typical. When it finally did come it seemed almost forced. I was sitting at the end of his bed, where he lay half asleep, thumbing through an issue of _Entertainment Weekly_ I'd bought at the grocery store. I didn't really watch a lot of TV, but thanks to my former life, I used to kind of know a lot of the celebrities that came up. I say kind of because it was usually just a passing bump at a gala my parents brought me along for. I always liked them as a kid, but they're really weird to think back on. My parents always made a real affair about everything. My mom would rush me around between stores and make me try on a dozen dresses in a single day, and before we went out she worked endlessly on curling my eyelashes and applying a lot of foundation and lipstick. My dad would go over all the things I was not to say in front of Regis Philbin or Demi Moore or whoever was hosting the get together. I wasn't to be curt, I wasn't to frown and I had to impress everyone. I wonder if they could have ever guessed the real context when I told Uma Thurman how pretty she looked.

Just out of the blue Chase said, "We should go out some night here soon. If we want this pretend thing to be real… uh… wait…."

I giggled. "I know what you meant. What did you have in mind?"

"New Kingo Suren flick just came out last week."

"Who?"

"Aw come on, you don't know the Eternal Samurai? Dude's a real badass. Does all his own stunts."

I made a face. "A samurai movie? For our first real date?"

"First real _fake_ date," Chase emphasized. "It'll give you a chance to try something new. You can pretend you like it, like you pretend you like me."

"I don't pretend I like you," I said, tossing the magazine aside. "Quit saying stuff like that. I do like you, Chase. I'm just not attracted to you. We're not pretending I like you. We're pretending I swing your way." We were both quiet for a little bit before I added, "I just never liked a lot of violence when I'm watching something. Xavin dragged me along because she always wanted to see all the blood and guts and stuff and I didn't like it then either."

"Well, whatever, you pick then." He said, shutting his eyes again. "Just no indies. Gert put me off that crap for life." Old Lace uncurled herself from the corner of the room, walking to Chase's side of the bed so he could scratch just above her eyes. "Isn't that right girl? Aren't indie comedies complete shit? Yes they are, yes they are."

I still couldn't get a clear picture on what Old Lace thought of me sharing the bedroom with Chase. She knew me, of course, as long as she's known any of us, but there was always something almost judgmental about her look. Kind of like Nico I suppose.

We settled on a drama called _In Bloom_ and I spent the next afternoon getting ready, 'prettying up' as my mom used to call it. Nico, true to her earlier reactions, remained dumbfounded.

"I still just don't get it," she said, sitting on the sink next to me as I applied some lipstick. "What was it you were trying to accomplish again? What's the point of doing this right now?"

"For the millionth time, I'm just having fun pretending my life isn't totally insane."

Nico was quiet as I finished the application and was going to go on to powdering before she asked, "Karolina… is there something you want to tell me, but won't?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't know… are you in the bisexual closet or something? Is that even a thing?" I didn't reply, but more so she could untangle her words than anything else, finally concluding with, "Are you sure this is just pretend?"

"I promise, Nico," I said. "And even if I was in some weird place about this, I don't want a real relationship right now. I'm still feeling messed up about Xavin and Chase is still messed up about Gert. We're just two lonely people trying to take a few vacation weeks."

Nico sighed. "Maybe I'm just afraid in-dating in the group is just going to make everything weird. Victor has already told me he's going back and forth on asking what on earth is going on with you two, and Klara's comments can't be doing you any favors."

I tried to shrug it off, but Klara was indeed the most annoying aspect of my pretend escapade. Her heart was in the right place, but her compliments and praise were so condescending. I finished with my eyes and moved on to combing my hair. As Nico began to step out, she said, "Just don't do anything _too_ stupid, okay?"

Too late for that. But given how well things seemed to be turning out, I think I could afford to be much worse than stupid.

 _In Bloom_ ended up being really boring. There were a few other teenagers in the theater, and I could hear two of them behind us being googly eyed. I think I fell asleep thirty minutes in, the performances were just too stilted and I couldn't even figure out what was going on. I ended up leaning against Chase's arm, and after a moment he extended it over and wrapped it around my back. I only meant to shut my eyes for a second, but ended up dozing off.

"You drool when you sleep, you know that?" Chase woke me up with that one, and I was sure my face was showing bright red. Of course I knew it, but that didn't mean I wanted anyone knowing it, the proof now unfortunately running down the side of his jacket. Surprisingly, he didn't seem to mind. "Seriously, we can still catch some of that Suren movie two theaters over. You can sleep back at my place."

"But we paid to see this one," I said. "What if somebody asks to see our tickets?"

"You're kidding, right?" He said. "What kind of do-gooder house did you come from? The guy taking tickets was at the entrance of this hole, nobody cares if we slip out and go see something else."

It took a little more coaxing, but he managed to break me down, stepping over the concession stand and grabbing a few things in the time between the two theaters.

"Okay, so you don't eat meat, you don't eat milk and that stuff, do you eat anything that has even the least bit of flavor?" He didn't wait for me to respond. "I mean I bought a couple of bags of candy just now. Swedish fish?"

"They use beetles to make them red."

"Reece's pieces?"

"Chocolate has milk in it."

"Will you take a sip of my damn Dr. Pepper?"

"I never had a lot of sugary stuff when I was a kid-"

"That wasn't a no." He forced the giant paper cup into my hands. "Drink some of it."

"Why?"

"Because that's what couples do when they go to the movies."

I sighed and took a little sip of the explosion of syrup, gagging in the process as I looked up at Chase's precious samurai cutting figures in black to ribbons, the screen running red with their blood. When I let out a heavy cough, he tore one of the boxes open, dumped its contents into his hand and forced one into mine. "Eat this. Dr. Pepper was probably too spicy for you anyway."

I didn't question it, I just tossed them in my mouth. They were horribly sweet, whatever they were, and at first they gave me some trouble. But after a moment I slowed down and chewed them and realized how good they were. Sweet, soft, maybe just a little hint of salt. Whatever they were I'd never had them before. "What were those?" I asked.

"Cookie dough bites."

I felt myself stiffen up. "Did you just trick me into eating something?"

"What? No." He said. "I was just trying to get the taste out of your mouth. Honest." I wanted to feel upset, but the way he reacted told me he was telling the truth. I went from anger to embarrassment and shame pretty quickly.

"… Those aren't vegan, are they?"

"Covered in chocolate, made from cookie dough… I'm gonna go with no… I'm sorry, Karolina, I didn't mean to do that, it was just my gut reaction."

We both sat silently as the movie blared on for a minute or two before I found myself leaning into him again as he mimicked his hold from before. "… I don't think I liked those," I said. "… but I better try one more. Just to be sure."


	5. Chapter 5

I came down to breakfast a few days later to catch Molly and Nico bickering about whether Molly could take the bus to buy new shoes by herself. Chase was still fast asleep, I figured I didn't need to bother him.

"I prolly went on the bus a hundred times back when I was with my Mom and Dad," Molly said. "I don't need anybody babysitting me while I'm just getting new shoes."

"We've been really lucky lately, Molly," Nico said. "Nobody's been bothering us out here, but the last thing we need is for that to change. I don't want you bumping into one of those mutant-hunting robots or one of those people with Magneto or anybody else. Better safe than sorry."

"I could beat up any of those bad guys no problem."

"And then you'd fall asleep, like you always do, and you'd be even easier to catch."

"Everything okay down here?" I said, grabbing an apple out of the fridge.

"Nico's going to make me wait for her after I get my shoes so she can get another earring or get a dragon tattooed on her butt or something."

I choked on my apple for a moment when I laughed, pounding my chest got it doverwn.

"She's still holding this over me," Nico said. "I stopped for twenty minutes to look at chokers a month ago and apparently I'm never going to live it down."

"I'll take her if you're not deadest on that tattoo," I said.

"I don't even know how she got it in her head. She's all yours."

So we finished and got cleaned up. Half an hour later we were standing at the bus stop, waiting for our ride to the nearest outlet mall. This would be nice, I liked being with Molly, even if we didn't talk a lot at home.

"Hey, Kar, can I ask you something?"

I already knew what direction this was going to go. Of course I did, we hadn't talked much since this whole thing started. "Sure thing."

"What's the deal with you and Chase? Are you guys for real for real?"

I sighed and gave half a smile. "I'll tell you the truth, but you gotta promise not to tell Klara. She's kind of a pain no matter what, but she's been better lately and I'll take what I can get."

"Okay."

"Pinky swear?"

"Pinky swear!"

"All right. No, me and Chase aren't 'for real.' I'm just… I dunno, I'm taking a vacation."

"A vacation?"

The bus arrived and I gave Molly a quick, "Hang on a sec" as we boarded. Five dollars and fifty cents later, we were seated toward the back. The bus was mostly empty, so we could talk freely as long as we kept it quiet. "A vacation from my problems."

"I don't get it," Molly said.

"It's not that big of a deal, Molly. But you know it just like I do, it's hard liking other girls."

"It is?"

"I mean, yeah, of course it is. Always wondering if people are judging you, hearing awful people talk about how it makes you a bad person on the news and radio and stuff. It kind of sucks."

"Guess I never really thought about it," Molly said, shrugging. "I think people should just like who they like. Maybe I'll like girls too when I get older."

I patted her on the back. "Just whatever you do, don't date somebody who, you know, always wants to fight with you about how that's supposed to work… if you know what I mean."

"You mean like Xavin?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you liked Xavin."

"I did—I mean I do. I hope she comes back all right, sooner better than later, it's just…" I had to stop and think about that for a few seconds. "I want Xavin back because I liked being with her. I liked sleeping and walking and… I guess just being with her."

"What about going out?" Molly said. "Did you like going out with her?"

"Of course. I mean, most of the time. We liked different things I guess but I didn't usually complain," I bit my lip for a moment. "I guess she did though… and she usually wanted to be a guy when we were out. That was tough."

"Did you guys talk a lot?"

"Sometimes, but she was always into fighting and stuff like that. She never liked any of my music or stuff like that."

Molly frowned. "Did you guys have anything in common?"

"Of course we did. We… um… sometimes we… we liked each other, okay? We did, it's just not like I carry a list around with me."

Molly went quiet for a little bit, probably thinking on that between twirls of one of the strings on her hat. "Are you sure you want to keep dating Xavin when she comes back?"

A chill ran through me as she asked, knowing full and well no one had actually asked me anything like that. Including myself. "I mean, we're supposed to get married—"

"But your parents set you up, you didn't do that."

"We've had a lot of time together. All couples have stuff to deal with—"

"But it sounds like you were dealing with it all the time and just didn't want to say anything."

"Molly, Xavin is out there, probably imprisoned, because she wanted to protect me."

It was almost like Molly had forgotten that. She scratched her head as the bus came to another stop, just one or two away from the outlet mall. "So is it like Mario and Peach? If someone saves you, you being their girlfriend is their reward?"

"No! I'm not a reward!"

That freak out didn't do us any favors, the old people and moms with small children turning to look at me in confusion. I swallowed as they slowly turned back around, quietly telling Molly, "People aren't ever rewards."

Molly sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't get it. Maybe I will when I get older."

"Like you said, Molly, you like who you like. You love who you love."

"So you do love Xavin?"

"Of course I do."

We didn't talk any more for the rest of the trip, arriving right in front of the outlet and heading for the "you are here" map to figure out we could get Molly her new shoes. Thank goodness, I didn't need her making my so-called vacation any more complicated.


	6. November Announcement

Hello my dear readers!

I wanted to take the opportunity to announce a big moment concerning my fan fiction writing coming up here very soon. At the moment, I have a bit of a backlog of smaller projects I started but never got around to finishing that have sort of been swallowed up by stuff like my sequel to _Angel of the Bat_ , my attempt at writing Xenoblade etc. I have felt bad about this for a while and understand that I may very well have caused interest to wane on these side projects, but I am determined to not let these pieces go unfinished.

So, knowing how many writers dedicate November to knocking out a novel, I think the least I can do is knock out a few of these pieces that were intended to be finished quickly in the first place. So look forward to new material and the conclusion of these pieces this November!


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